'India are repeating same mistake as Pakistan’s in 1990s' - Rashid Latif warns BCCI over constant captaincy changes

On Saturday, July 30, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe starting on August 18. Once again, the Indian management decided to rest key senior players Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah. All these five players missed India’s latest ODI series against West Indies, and Kohli and Bumrah are not even part of the ongoing T20I series.

Shikhar Dhawan, who led India to a 3-0 series win against West Indies, is leading the 15-member squad on the Zimbabwe tour. Fans are already questioning BCCI’s decision to rest senior players after just one series, and this has not happened the first time this year. The Indian management has also rotated the captaincy duties among seven players since the start of this year.

Regular captain Rohit Sharma was rested for India’s home T20I series against South Africa in June and subsequently for the Ireland tour as well. The Indian management handed Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya their first cap as captains last month and also to pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth rescheduled Test match against England earlier this month. The former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif finds this rotation not helpful and believes that India are making the same mistake that Pakistan did in the 1990s.

“Everyone talks about backup. But they have now produced seven backup captains in the past year! This is the first time I’m seeing this in India’s history. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, they are repeating the same mistake as Pakistan’s in the 1990s,” Rashid Latif said on his YouTube channel.

No captain is playing consistently: Rashid Latif

The star opening batter KL Rahul is Rohit’s deputy in all three formats but hasn’t played any game since the conclusion of the Indian Premier League 2022 at the end of May. He has been struggling with injuries for the last few months and recently missed his comeback on the West Indies tour due to the Covid-19 virus. It is clear that India are looking for future captaincy options, with both Rahul and Rohit missing a considerable amount of matches lately. But Latif added that no current captaincy option is playing regular cricket, and India need a leader who is like former skippers Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, and Kohli.

“They haven’t found a solid opener, nor do they have a stable middle-order. They just want a new captain. No captain is playing consistently for them. KL Rahul is unfit now; Rohit was unfit before. Virat is mentally unfit. So, they will have to think about it. They are changing so many captains.. they need a leader like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli,” Rashid Latif added.